These results indicate that liposomes provide effective drug-delivery systems for intermediate-duration local anesthetics. Mepivacaine was affected to the greatest extent, while LDC benefited least from liposome encapsulation, possibly due to greater vasodilatory properties of LDC.

We successfully developed and characterized a liposome encapsulated 5% lidocaine gel. It could be considered an option to other topical anesthetic agents for oral mucosa.

P Pu ur rp po os se e: : Liposomal formulations of local anesthetics (LA) are able to control drug-delivery in biological systems, prolonging their anesthetic effect. This study aimed to prepare, characterize and evaluate in vivo drug-delivery systems, composed of large unilamellar liposomes (LUV), for bupivacaine (BVC) and mepivacaine (MVC).M Me et th ho od ds s: : BVC and MVC hydrochloride were encapsulated into LUV (0.4 µm) composed of egg phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and α-tocopherol (4:3:0.07 molar ratio) to final concentrations of 0.125, 0.25, 0.5% for BVC and 0.5, 1, 2% for MVC. Motor function and antinociceptive effects were evaluated by sciatic nerve blockade induced by liposomal and plain formulations in mice.R Re es su ul lt ts s: : Liposomal formulations modified neither the intensity nor the duration of motor blockade compared to plain solutions. Concerning sensory blockade, liposomal BVC (BVC LUV ) showed no advantage relatively to the plain BVC injection while liposomal MVC (MVC LUV ) improved both the intensity (1.4-1.6 times) and the duration of sensory blockade (1.3-1.7 times) in comparison to its plain solution (P < 0.001) suggesting an increased lipid solubility, availability and controlled-release of the drug at the site of injection.C Co on nc cl lu us si io on n: : MVC LUV provided a LA effect comparable to that of BVC. We propose MVC LUV drug delivery as a potentially new therapeutic option for the treatment of acute pain since the formulation enhances the duration of sensory blockade at lower concentrations than those of plain MVC. de 0,125, 0,25, 0,5 % pour la BVC et 0,5 Objectif : Des préparations liposomales d'anesthésiques locaux (AL) peuvent contrôler l'administration de médicaments dans les systèmes biologiques, prolongeant leur effet anesthésique. Notre objectif était de préparer, caractériser et évaluer des systèmes d'administration de médicaments in vivo, composés de gros liposomes unilamellaires (GLU), pour la bupivacaïne (BVC) et la mépivacaïne (MVC). Méthode : Le chlorhydrate de BVC et de MVC a été mis en capsules dans des GLU (0,4 µm) composés de lécithine d'oeuf, de cholestérol et de α-tocophérol (concentration molaire 4:3:0,07) pour obtenir des concentrations finales